What Hobbies Can I Do / Should I Try? A Break From The Norm
Rather than just jump on the bandwagon with a list of 20, no wait, 30! no, 50 things that are so amazing you may soil yourself I thought I would just be a bit more honest and focused.
Spoiler alert, Sudoku is not the thrill-seeking, white knuckle, balls to the wall, underwear-soiling game of death other lists would have you believe. It’s entertaining but not to the level they want you to believe.
Before you even think about a hobby type you want to get involved with you should really think about what you are interested in.
If you love science fiction then playing sci-fi board games with similarly motivated individuals or even creative writing can be for you. If you love nature then maybe photography could be for you. Even jigsaw puzzles, if you are into those, can be integrated into your love of nature. You can take some nice pics and turn them into jigsaws.
You can see where I’m coming from now, right? The list I have put together below is far from exhaustive, to be honest, there are only 9 items but I think they are the most worthwhile doing as well as reading on this page as I’m not just trying to churn out the most banal and extensive list just to get to spot 1 in Google.
I’m actually interested in getting you guys interested in doing things both for your own satisfaction and peace of mind but also you may be able to share knowledge to help others too.
Before you start going through the list you may need to think about who else you will be doing this hobby with, if anyone. Some hobbies can be solo, others can be better with a couple of people and some can be the most fun with a small crowd.
Hobbies are really to keep us guys interested and focused on fun things that we like so I do recommend keeping an open mind and considering a mix of solo and group hobbies. (If you are a bit of a loner please really try to consider group options to get you out and about).
Boardgames
If you love playing games with a few of your mates then this could be the hobby for you. Even if you are fairly new to it there are literally thousands of games that are available now.
No matter what your interest is, you will be able to find games that you will like to play.
Here are a couple of YouTube channels to give you an idea of how much fun games can be. One channel is from the US and is hosted by Star Trek’s Will Wheaton and the other is from the UK with a bunch of witty Brits.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaBf1a-dpIsw8OxqH4ki2Kg
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyRhIGDUKdIOw07Pd8pHxCw
You can have some real fun just watching these guys reviewing and playtesting the games. This will give you an idea of how much fun board games can be.
If you are stuck for people to play the games with then check out Meetup It’s a site/app designed to bring people with a common interest together. You are sure to find people in your area who will want you on their team!
Creative writing
One of my favorite authors, the late Terry Pratchett once quoted
Writing is the most fun anyone can have by themselves.
This can be true if you are passionate about a topic and want to share your enthusiasm with the world.
Writing can take many forms, instructional, historical, fictional, humor, reporting of current events. There are many styles to choose from and as many subjects as you can possibly think of.
These days anyone can write easily, you just need a topic and be passionate about it. You don’t need advanced writing skills as there are many tools out the such as Grammarly, which can help you with spelling, punctuation, and formatting.
Many budding authors have actually made money from this venture as well. One of the best examples of this is “50 shades of grey” by Sam Taylor-Johnson. After she had written it she tried to get it published but nobody was willing to give it a chance. She self-published it as an e-book and print on demand to keep costs down. It’s been translated into over 52 languages and has sold, as of 2015 over 125 million copies.
The chances you will repeat this level of success may be slim, but never say never. Even if you just write for yourself or a few family and friends you will be doing something that is personally rewarding.
Language swapping
As someone who can speak more than 1 language, I can attest to how much fun it is. If you are interested in other cultures then you can arrange to either meet up in person or via the internet with nonnative English speakers and have a conversation.
Speaking to native speakers of your target language is beneficial as you will be able to listen to correct pronunciation, grammar, and word patterns.
The other more important and fun part is that they will be able to teach you about their country in great detail. Right from the horse’s mouth as it were.
(interesting fact: This phrase came from times when we used horses for transport and farming. To gauge the horse’s rough health you would look in its mouth and at its teeth to see how healthy it was. Another one is: Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. ie. Don’t be rude and check the quality of a gift)
At the time of writing this, I am currently living in Northern Thailand. (I’m from the UK) and I can tell you now that all the Thai food and culture you see in your country is so far from the norm it will make your eyes pop when you see it for yourself. Native speakers can share this with you and even show you via pictures and video tours if they live abroad.
Sewing
Yes, I am totally serious about this one. I have always done guy-type things in the past although I’m not really into sport, I’m more of a computer geek really. But having an open mind to new things has meant that some hobbies I would normally balk at I try and sewing has been one of them. Let me show you what I did.
I had an old sofa which I bought from Ikea. I bought it without the cover as I am a fairly clean and neat person. However, I did manage to spill a cup of coffee on the seat which even after extensive cleaning, left an unsightly stain.
The first picture is a stock pic of the sofa as I don’t have the original pic. The second picture is what I managed to achieve with about 4 meters of heavy fabric. Some fishing line and strong needles, some upholstery tacks, a lot of elbow grease, and hope.
I must admit, I was very pleased with my first-time efforts. It took me about 15 hours over 2 days but that’s because it was all cut and sewn by hand. I know if I can do something like this then smaller easier pieces will be no problem for me, or for that matter, you. If I can do it then you certainly can.
Blogging / Vlogging
A blog or to give it its original name “weblog” is a great way to get your thoughts and views out to the world. It’s very similar to creating writing except that your articles, your written pieces of work are much smaller than writing a whole book.
They are all usually geared around a certain them or topic. There are some great blogs out there (hopefully you include this one in that list) and you can learn a lot about pretty much any topic you choose.
Blogging does cost a little more than creative writing but a blog can also be a bit more commercial in nature where you can place ads or recommend products to give you some income to offset your blogging costs and in some cases even turn a profit.
When starting a blog you can often do so for free or by spending just a few dollars a month. The free blog options restrict what you can do to monetize them so if you are looking to make a few bucks on the side from your hobby then it’s worth paying a little to get the freedom to make more of your own choices.
Vlogging, or “video log” is like blogging but in video format. You will be familiar with sites such as YouTube and Vimeo for this. You can do pretty much the same thing with vlogging as you can with blogging. You can talk about anything and you can have revenue from advertising and you can also recommend products.
There are some extremely popular bloggers out there who are millionaires now, Daniel Middleton, for instance, is as of writing this article currently the richest vlogger on Youtube in 2020 and is worth $16.5 million, he has 21 million subscribers to his channel.
Photography
Photography is a dying art at least this is what camera users will have you believe. This is not true, although camera usage is down when compared to smartphone use.
With the speed of smartphones far exceeding that of digital cameras, it’s no wonder that the days of poor quality fuzzy images from a smartphone are over. Even mid-level smartphones support hi-resolution images and 4k video so if you have a smartphone then you can get out there and start snapping some great pictures.
It’s true that a picture really can paint a thousand words. When you take a beautiful shot there is so much you cannot possibly put into words that the image itself conveys.
Everyone loves to look at awesome pictures so if that’s something you are into then get snapping. Chances are you already have a reasonably decent smartphone. Have a look online for your model and then check how to use the camera settings and features to allow you to take the best images you can.
Mentoring
I mention this because there may be some guys out there that are a bit more mature, have some good life experience, and are friendly people persons.
If this is you then why not take someone under your wing and help them out. You can get to know the other guy while you are helping them and you will not only get great satisfaction from improving someone’s life but you may make an awesome friend as a result.
Many of society’s pressures today are messing guys’ heads up. They don’t know left from right anymore and with a real absence of men’s help facilities they often have to go it alone and risk losing their way.
Mentoring in this regard can be a pay it forward and back where your mentee can help you good about helping others and in the future can be a mentor to someone as well.
Make a Meet Up group
This can be a great way of bringing the people in your area together. The MeetUp website is great but what if there are no groups in your area that want to do what you want?
Easy! You make a group yourself. It may take time to get people to find you but if the MeetUp does not work then use other sites like FaceBook or Even Instagram. Get your hobby out there, share a few pics, and ask people if they want to come along.
MeetUps are incredibly fun as you all want to do the same thing so there is very little in the way of compromise so it generally works out for all parties concerned.
Coding, Crafting & Making
Last but not least is coding, making, and crafting. These are quite different elements of the maker-sphere when people can be more focused on one aspect, home automation for example with coding, woodworking for making, and clay sculpting and painting for the crafting side.
Coding may put people off but with the resurgence of Arduino microcontrollers (these guys have been around for many years) even the novices, like myself can make simple gadgets and add them to other projects.
Take a look at the video below as an example. It’s adding feature lighting to a miniature game set.
Once you start crafting, however, it’s quite addictive. I am into turning recycling into crafted pieces that people will love. The things you make can be kept and admired, given away as gifts, or even sold to cover the costs of your materials.
In conclusion:
Firstly, I hope you enjoyed my take on the standard hobby list and what is possible. Secondly, I truly hope that each and everyone one of you who reads this takes up a hobby and brings some light and happiness to their lives. I also hope if you meed other guys you can offer the same advice to them. Send them here too if you wish. We need to do what we can to help our fellow man.
Here are some links to UpcyclingPro a website dedicated to upcycling and recycling. There you can try some hobby ideas that can make you money too.
